Chocolate
by LenkaJeneva
Summary: Sometimes life throws something at you that you just can't seem to accept. Everyone has their comfort food. Right? Chocolate's Harry's as Sirius very well found out... now what to do with the kidnapped boy-who-lived? This will be interesting...
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer׃ **I don't own Harry Potter

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He curled in a small ball. The loud bang echoed above him, and he jumped, squeezing his eyes tighter. His breath was coming in heavy gasps. He wanted to scream, to cry, but he couldn't, it would hurt – he blinked back the tears.

The door flew open at the next bang. The boy visibly flinched, muffling a scream as he curled further into himself.

The steps the man took seemed to thunder toward him, he could practically see his large, beefy hand coming toward him, his purpling face set in stone and - "Harry."

He flinched violently as his eyes flew open.

His godfather was kneeling in front of him. Concern was spread across his gaunt face. He tentively reached out his hand.

The child let a scream erupt from his throat as another noise echoed through the air. His godfather nearly ripped his hand from the air until the boy launched himself into his arms.

He held onto his godfather tightly, his small arms wrapped around the thin mans neck as he shook violently. He hoped this was real; he didn't want to go back. Harry flinched in his godfather's arms as he heard the storm rage overhead.

Sirius pulled the child closer to him as he felt his flinch. He whispered to him softly. It was nonsense words, but they seemed to calm the child down. He felt Harry's breathe calm, but he didn't let go of the child, and he felt the boy's breath hitch as another array of lightening flashed across the sky.

The young man stood up, and the child stiffened in his arms.

Sirius's feet padded softly on the wooden floors as he carried the shaking child. "It's alright." He whispered softly. "We're goin' be okay baby. Alright? It's fine…" He trailed on, his soft murmurs never stopping as he stepped into the kitchen.

He suddenly paused as he struggled to find his wand. He watched as the lights twirled on around them and, as he pulled his wand from his pockets, whispered a spell. The noises from outside reduced drastically as they listened to the muffled booms.

Sirius felt the boy relax, but he didn't move to put him down as he walked toward the stove.

"It's okay Buddy." The man whispered. Several objects began flying out of the cabinets as he spoke. The water began to boil. Harry stared in fascination as the water bubbled, popping as soon as it hit the surface.

Sirius walked over to the table. He made a move to set Harry down on the stool beside them before the child tightened his grip. He paused, allowing the child to reluctantly be set down on the seat. His chest tightened as his godchild looked as though he were being sent to slaughter.

His thin hands picked up the mugs, sitting innocently on the counter. He slowly poured the hot water into the cups, mixing it in with the cocoa. He, amusedly, handed the child his favorite cup – a small blue mug with around a dozen little snowmen painted on it.

The boy took it, sipping it slightly before choking. "Watch it." Sirius said with a laugh. "It's hot!" He blew his own in example.

Harry gave him an annoyed look as he muttered "I knew that."

With a smile, Sirius ruffled him hair, earning a smile from the boy. And he noticed – not for the first time – that the child's face seemed so much brighter, more innocent. He had to tear his eyes away from the child's expressive emerald eyes.

He blew at the cup, watching the steam fly through the air. "Hot cocoa makes everything better, doesn't it?"

Harry merely nodded.

"You want to know who taught me that?" Sirius said, sliding into the seat beside the boy. "Your Uncle Moony lived by that concept. Anytime something went wrong with any one of us, he would drag us to the kitchens to give us a cup of hot chocolate or chocolate milk or whatever. Said it helped make the world go round." He grinned at Harry.

Harry was watching him with bright eyes, drinking the information up. A soft blush graced his features as he realized that Sirius was waiting for him to continue the conversation. He dug deep into his memories. "Mrs. Figg used to give me chocolate." He said shyly, visibly brightening as Sirius sent a smile toward him. "She would give it – milk chocolate, I didn't like dark or white! And – and, I would hide it. And if I ever got hungry or sad I'd eat it! And she'd always give me more!"

Sirius smiled at him fondly, letting the boy ramble on about chocolate. He let him forget about the storm raging overhead. There were times that a child just needed to be a child.

"You want to sleep down here?" Sirius asked as he watched the boy pause in his speech. And his shyness was back as he nodded hesitantly. His godfather smiled at him indulgently, He motioned for the boy to jump off the chair, and the child quickly joined his side, watching as he waved his wand.

Both of their chairs began to fall flat, like liquid. They puffed up slightly – as if bubbling, as the water had earlier, Harry noted – and the shape formed, freezing on the picture of sleeping bags.

"It's not a very good color," Sirius admitted, staring at the mahogany colored fabric in dismay, "but I wasn't about to sleep on a hard floor because the spell wore out too soon."

The child nodded, scuttling over as his godfather patted at the cushioned bag next to him. He lay down, eyeing the ceiling wearily as he listened to the muffled thunder, and watched the flashing lights beneath the curtains.

Sirius pulled the child towards him. Harry curled up beside him, burying his face in his godfather's chest.

And Sirius ran his hands through the child's hair. His own eyes were sliding down – tired. He yawned, attempting to blink the sleep out of his eyes, and he slowly drifted to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Since I forgot to put this up on the last chapter – sorry about that – I will put my disclaimer up on this chapter. It's just a small story that I came up with during math class (which is a good class for zoning out, unfortunately). **

**2****nd**** chapter up!**

**Disclaimer**׃ I don't own Harry Potter

* * *

"It's only for a bit." Harry said. "It'll be a few seconds at most!" He looked at his godfather hopefully.

"No." The child deflated. For the past month he hadn't been allowed out of the house.

Sirius sighed. He kneeled in front of the child, his hands rested on his shoulders in a comforting gesture. "You've got to look at me Buddy." Expressive emerald green eyes glanced up at him. "I know you want to go out – but we've got to wait until we've got a semblance of control over this, okay?" He watched as the boys black hair turned into a light blue as the child nodded. "It won't be for too much longer. We've just got to make sure your hair won't go from blond to green when your mood changes."

"I know." Sirius had to strain to hear the answer as the boy stared at his shoes.

"I know you didn't expect this." Sirius said, grabbing the child in a hug. "But this is a good thing, you hear me? It's a gift. You should be proud. And it is incredibly hard to control, especially when no one around you knows exactly how to control it."

The chocked out sob had Sirius tightening his grip. "They – they said –"

"Who cares what they said." Sirius said savagely. "They don't know a thing!"

Harry's head was burrowed in his godfather's chest as he shook with barely repressed sobs. His blue hair morphed to an almost puke green. But he hadn't said a thing. Sirius pushed him back and shook him. "Do you understand me?"

His horrified face nodded. "Yes."

"I'm sorry." He hugged the child again, not about to let go of him anytime soon. He let the boy sob, knowing that his robe was becoming soaked.

A few moments later, Sirius allowed the boy to pull away from him, watching as he scrubbed at his eyes, trying to push the tears away. "Its okay buddy, you know that."

Harry nodded, sniffling slightly. His godfather brushed his downtrodden brown hair out of his chocolate brown eyes. "If you want," Sirius said softly, "I could try and contact Nympha–"

"No."

He blinked at the answer. His godson's hair morphed into a brilliant shade of red – enough to do a Weasley proud. Sirius furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "Why not?" He questioned the boy.

"I don't– I– I– I don't wanna…" Harry took a deep rattling breath, "I don't wanna lose you…"

Sirius, once again, had to strain his ears to hear him. He allowed a frown to cross his face as the boy tried to stop his tears. "They won't take me away." His quiet voice seemed to echo within the room. "I wouldn't let them." His heart broke as a sob escaped Harry's mouth. "Harry…"

Harry threw himself at the man. "They won't s– st– stop!" He cried out, clinging to the mans robe. "They don't like you." The six-year-old sniffled and took a shuttering breath. "And– and, they want me to go back." The words began racing out of his mouth as he rambled, "And I don't _want_ to go back! I _like_ being here with you! And – and my mummy and daddy _wanted_ me to stay with you and – and – they're _mean_!"

"She'd be twelve." Sirius continued after the child's rant. "She was only your age when I left – used to adore me. We could always kidnap her." He gave Harry a roguish grin. "I'm sure she wouldn't mind."

"But you can't. I don't want them to take you away."

"If they do – I can just escape." A proud, wild gleam entered his eyes. "Remy still hasn't told."

"But–"

"Baby," Sirius interrupted fondly, "just take a deep breath and think about it, okay? We haven't got a time limit on this – and I'm planning on stopping at a book store anyway." Both pairs of eyes surveyed the door beside them with dread. "We need a new cookbook." He said simply. "Preferably one which won't eat us out of house and home – literally."

"Let's just say that we need a new kitchen and be done with it."

He turned to the child with wide eyes. "But that'd take all the fun out of life!" He gasped in shock. "What about the memories?"

A vicious growl caused them both to jump. "They were eaten." Came the whispered answer.

Sirius laughed."I'm sure." He said, his voice tinged in amusement. He lifted the child up rather easily and placed him on the coffee table. "So how's about it Bubby? We'll send a quick little note asking for advice and whatnot and hope that they get back to us." Seeing the child's worried frown, Sirius plopped himself on the ground in front of him and leaned up against the couch. "We can send it through Gringotts if you want us to, that way they won't be able to trace it back to us."

He trailed off and allowed the boy to think about it.

Harry scrunched his nose up, as if thinking it through. "I guess…" He sent him a worried look. "But we'll be okay, right?"

" 'Course we will." He sent the child an amused grin. "Then we both could go out and buy a less violent cookbook… Unless… Do you think they're all like that?" Sirius stifled a snort when Harry sent the kitchen door a worried look. "Come here."

His voice was still chocked on laughter as he spoke. Harry – ignoring the stifled snorts escaping his godfather's mouth – jumped onto the ground beside him quickly. Sirius pulled the child closer to him and laid his head on his chest. "It'll be okay Buddy." Harry looked up at him piteously. "Harry…" He rubbed soothing circles on his back. "It'll be – No – it will be." He stated, overriding whatever Harry was about to say. "We'll learn how to control this and disappear off the face of the earth – no one will have to find us."

Harry nestled his face in his godfather's chest. "You sure?"

"Positive." Sirius allowed the child to lay there for a few moments until – Poke.

Harry squealed slightly as he squirmed in his fathers' arms. "Ticklish?" Sirius asked with a devilish smile. He poked the child's ribs once again. Harry tried to keep from laughing as he attempted an escape.

"_Stop_ it!" Harry cried out, laughing as the man tickled his stomach. "St– sto– _stop_!"

He managed to jump away from the animagus. He scrambled to stand up and stumbled in his attempt to flee from his attacker, before he was hoisted up into the air. "Hey!" He struggled in his grasp.

"Sorry Bub." He carried the boy – upside-down, Harry was sure all his blood was going to his brain (_Oh my God! My brain cells are dying!_) – to the mans bedroom. "But you must be punished." He pushed the door open with his shoulder.

The child paused in his struggle at his godfather's gravely voice. "For what?"

"For trying to usurp my authority of course!" A large grin spread across his face. He dumped the child onto the spring mattress. A soft – _oomph_ – showed his success. "You must fear me!" Sirius cried out, shaking his fist in the air.

"Why?" The young Potter heir asked. "Is it because Britain said I must?"

"Precisely."

"What if I don't want to listen to Britain?" He asked as his father collapsed beside him, onto the bed.

"Then you don't have to." He responded, tilting his head toward the boy. "We can do whatever we want to do – and not have to listen to what people say."

"Outlaws of the Wizarding World!" Harry crowed. His face lit up in excitement. "We'll be like Indiana Jones!" Sirius frowned in bewilderment – _Indiana Jones was an outlaw? What was that kid going on about?_

"Yeah…" He said, eyeing him nervously. "Of course." And a smile graced his face. "So – since we're just a couple of outlaws, then we can do whatever, right?"

Harry bounced his head in excitement – Sirius supposed it was suppose to be a nod.

"So we can contact Nymphadora and not get caught, right?"

"Right!" Harry jumped onto the ground. "Let's go mail her _now_, Uncle Siri!"

"Right now? But I wanted to rest for a while…" He covered his eyes, a loud, over exaggerated snore breaking free from his mouth.

"_No_…." Harry tugged at his arm. "We've gotta go now – b'fore we forget!"

"But I have explicit memory." Harry sent him a blank look. "I remember things really _really_ well."

"Please…" Wide doe eyes stared back at him.

… Merlin, the kid was too adorable for his own good. "Alright… If you're sure…"

"Positive!"

His own word was repeated back at him childishly, and he gave the boy a fond look. "Then let's get started on that letter." Harry let out a loud _whoop!_ and raced from the room.


	3. Chapter 3

**Here we go! Took a little while, but finally finished the third chapter, and I've already started on the forth, I'm hoping to put that one up soon! Please Read and Review! And onto the story.**

**3****rd**** chapter up!**

**Disclaimer**׃ I don't own Harry Potter

* * *

"Alright Pipsqueak," The pink haired girl spun around, looking every bit like a drill sergeant as she surveyed the five year old before her. "It's your birthday in a month – that means we've gotta talk presents!"

Harry furrowed his brow – looking incredibly like his godfather – and, with a confused expression, asked his first, _innocent_ question. "Why?"

"Why!" Tonks' hair turned red, which seemed (to her mother anyway) like a sharp contrast to the young boys green. "_Why!_ Presents, of course! Merlin! What self respecting five year old doesn't know that answer?"

Harry – not to be outdone – turned his hair into a similar shade of red. "That's no answer!" He told her promptly, his hair seemed almost wilder than usual (if that was possible). "Pa'f't _said so_!"

"Oh! _C'mon_!" Abandoning her old technique, the girl dropped to her knees in an over exaggeration of her thoughts. She allowed her hair to turn back to her favorite color – bubble gum pink. "You're supposed to be my little brother who I can corrupt and play with and teach and–" She cut herself off with a sniffle, her overly large eyes peering at him through her bangs. "_Please_."

The boy shifted, uncomfortable with the attention. "Okay." He finally answered in a soft voice.

"Excellent!"

Tonks' jumped up in excitement. Her quick victory dance allowed a small bubble of laughter to flit out of the boys' mouth. With a grin, she took his hand and tugged the child toward the woods. He followed her dutifully as he attempted to hide his giggles as she stumbled across the stones.

She could ignore that. She had a plan.

Of course, her mother never could see eye-to-eye with her on most of her plans.

Andromeda turned from the kitchen window in bemusement. "Get ready for your own Demon Child, Siri." She eyed the man in question – he was currently attempting to convince her cooking utensils to make sloppy Joe for lunch, instead of the sandwiches currently being prepared. Ted was watching the proceedings in silent amusement. "Are you even listening to me?" She bit out sharply.

Sirius jumped at the noise. "Uh…" and que the hand moving to rub the back of his neck, she felt the distinct urge to shove it down to his side, "yeah…. Something about Harry being a complete angel, you're jealous, and Dora's evil?" And it came out more as a question than anything.

… At least he was listening to part of the conversation – from about ten minutes ago.

Really, if Sirius didn't look as though a small breeze would push him over than she would have wacked him upside the head. "Your Demon Child ran off into the woods with my Devil Child unsupervised."

"Harry wouldn't do that." Of course, Ted couldn't keep his two cents in for the life of him, as he questioned at the same time, wondering when Dora went from Demon to Devil. "He _wouldn't_."

"Do you remember yourself at that age?"

Sirius was already racing out the door.

"Merlin," Andi laughed as she turned to her husband. "I think I broke him."

"Nah," his reply only sparked more laughter in her eyes, "he's been talking about dragging the boy back in here anyway – never thought I'd see the day that the great Sirius Black fretted like a worried mother."

Her laughter dimmed slightly as she sighed. "Azkaban did that to him!" She suddenly blurted out. Andromeda didn't understand why she said that, but she couldn't stop. "He never used to be like that – we're lucky that he got out when he did. Who knows what could have happened if he didn't escape." She took a deep breath, and felt, to her surprise, tears filling up her eyes. "And when he found Harry – he was always incredibly fond of him – I think something just snapped. To him, Harry was the only family he had left. And somewhere in there, he still believes that." She took a deep shuttering breath as Ted stood up and walked to her, placing his arm around her. They could still see Sirius lurking around the bushes, watching for the children. "And I know that he's always going to believe that, just a little bit… I–"

She stopped talking, allowing silence to engulf them as they watched Padfoot trot into the trees.

Ted led her toward the door. "Perhaps we should help the noble warrior collect the rebels, mi lady?"

"Mayhaps, me fair prince." Andi curtsied at the mans bow, before letting a smile break free on her face. "How 'bout we go help a mutt go find his pup, huh?"

"I think that sounds like a wonderful idea." He took her hand, much more graceful than their daughter had taken the boy-who-lived's hand, and led her toward the trees. "Cause I highly doubt that they are going to be able to get rid of us now, Dora'll never let us leave without her newly dubbed little brother." They shared a grin as they walked down the worn path.

"That'll be the day." Andi said as she carefully stepped over a fallen log. They followed the sounds of laughter as they walked. "I still miss that arrogant little eleven year old that thought that the world revolved around him." A wistful smile made its appearance.

"Or that stupid little fifteen year old that felt that he had the best ideas in the whole world – and actually went through with them?" She laughed at his question – most likely thinking of the time Sirius thought it'd be a good idea to send a howler to Dumbledore. That'd been the stuff of ages. Ted was pretty sure that people were still talking about it. "And now we're stuck with a battle worn twenty-five year old who is completely and utterly taken with some snot nosed little kid that will run him into the ground in a couple of years – personally, I think that we got the better deal."

"_Ted_!" She pushed him in amusement. He stumbled a couple steps, barely making it out of a puddles path.

"Thanks."

His dry reply was cut short as a small orange rocket barreled into his side. He fell into the muddy puddle that he had only just managed to avoid moments before. "Daddy!" Nymphadora Tonks stared in surprise at her water logged father. "What are ya' doin' on the ground?"

"Oh you know how it is," His tone didn't lead to anything good. He sat up and pushed the young girl off of him, letting her fall with a splat into the mud. "I just felt that I should be jumping in puddles today, you know? You can never have too much mud and grime on you! You think I'm dirty enough."

Dora sat up herself, leaning forward to get a better view of her fathers face – the sarcastic tone flew over her head. "Not quite." She lifted up a handful of dirt and dumped it onto his head. "Now you're good."

A mischievous smile broke over her face.

Andi giggled.

"You know what," Ted whispered conspirically to his mud soaked child, "I think that your mother would like a hug."

Dora blink, a semi-sweet smile broke across her face. "Mummy?"

"No." Andromeda could tell that the end was near – was that the light? "No. No, no, no, no, _no_! Don't you _dare_! You–" she attempted to sprint away from the little darling before she could feel the muddy arms circling her waist. "Ugh… Dora." She patted the girls hand in disgust, before wiping her own on her robes. "Now we've all got to have a bath…"

"We're not interrupting, are we?"

And jumped as she turned toward the bemused voice, "Sirius! It–" The young man stood along the path, twigs interwoven in his hair as he carried a giggling five-year-old on his back. The child had his legs wrapped around the mans stomach, one arm had Sirius in a chokehold, the other vainly trying to stifle his laughter. "Merlin Sirius," worry pierced through her, was he _insane_? "Be careful – _don't drop him_!"

"I'm not going to drop h–"

"You shouldn't be out here!" Andi suddenly said in a panic, launching herself to grab his arm, Ted prepared himself for an all out brawl. But she only began to pull the two boys toward the house. This caused Ted to remember that the wards didn't reach this far out. He winced in sympathy.

"What if someone sees you!" That would be disastrous. Really, really bad. Scenarios were racing through the woman's mind – Harry would be sent back to his relatives with a pat on the back and a few paparazzi pictures, Sirius would be given the kiss (those same camera's would probably be in the courtroom once Harry was gone), Ted and her would be considered accomplices, and who knows what would happen to her Dora!

She began to hyperventilate.

She dragged the two back to the house faster.

"Whoa, Andi, calm down," Ted stepped in front of her, wand at his side, one hand on her shoulder, preventing her from continuing on. He kindly forgot about his muddy hands as he attempted to comfort her.

Andromeda Tonks shrieked as soon as the hand touched her shoulder.


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay, so this chapter is pretty short, unfortunately, and I'm hoping that the fifth chapter will be up soon. I'm working on both _Chocolate_, and my other story _A Different Story_. Yeah, I've never been that good with titles. I need to work on it. Enjoy, Read, Review, etc, etc, etc…**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Harry Potter

**Although I am looking forward to the movie, I'm about to start a countdown soon. July 15****th**** here I come!**

* * *

Harry glanced curiously at his Aunt Andi – she insisted because she always wanted a cute, little, adorable, little nephew, and he was the closest that she'd ever get.

She was floating in front of them ("stunned" Sirius had soothed once she fell) with Uncle Ted carrying the magic stick ("wand" Sirius had corrected more than once) that was keeping her afloat. Dora didn't seem too worried about it… And neither did Sirius.

"Uncle Pa'f't?" He tugged on one of the mans dark locks. He hummed questioningly as he spared a glance up at the boy before continuing on his way. "A'nt Andi'll be 'kay, r'ght?"

Padfoot felt a fond smile pulling at his lips. "Yeah Bud, she'll sleep for a bit, but she'll wake in a couple hours, She'll be fine – angry, maybe, but fine all the same."

"Angry?"

Sirius hefted the boy up slightly to get a better grip on the legs around his chest, "At me Bub, she likes you too much to get angry at you." Harry's grip on his hair didn't loosen at all.

"You'll be 'kay?"

"Sirius can take are of himself Hare." Ted answered, shivering as he stepped over the wards. "And thank God that we actually remembered to key us into the wards, otherwise that would've hurt like hell."

"_Oi_!" Sirius quickly turned toward him, forcing Harry to grab a better hold on his forehead to keep from falling from his piggyback ride. "Don't cuss in front of my baby! Harry," he glanced skywards as if searching for an answer, Harry tilted his head in order to catch his eyes, "don't listen to a thing he says – he's an evil, bitter old man."

"Like Dumbleydoor?" The child asked, burrowing his head in the mans shoulder. Ted sputtered in outrage at the boy's timid glance.

Dora Tonks burst out laughing, "Uncle Siri," she gasped out, "Harry, I love you. Simple as that."

"Thanks Dora," Sirius said dryly as he watched her trip on her own two feet. She fell with a soft – _womp_ – on the ground. Her chuckles subsided a moment before she burst out into laughter again.

Sirius felt Harry giggle from his shoulder.

"I'm not carrying the two of you," Sirius said, failing miserably to keep a straight face, "and I doubt Ted does either."

"I can carry myself!" The pink haired witch glared up at him. "Be nice!"

"Must be pretty talented to be able to carry yourself, little Dora," Ted said, lifting her up with ease. She let out an indignant squawk. "Didn't know that was possible."

"Let me down! Let me down, let me down, let me – _gah_!" She fell onto the grassy ground once again as her father dropped her. "Hey! I didn't mean _drop_ me. I meant, bloody well, set me down gently! Daddy!"

Ted laughed, running toward the house before the girl to do anything worrying to him. Sirius snorted amusedly at the scene. "I wanna go d'n." Harry said in his ear with a pull of his hair.

"Okay, okay," he said, "I got it."

He set him down before kneeling and grasping his shoulders before the boy could turn tail and run. "And listen Harry – you too Dora – no going into the woods, okay? We've gotta stay in this yard, the wards will keep us _safe_ here. You got that?" Harry nodded guiltily, staring at his feet, refusing to meet anyone's eyes. Sirius felt shame well up inside him, here he was telling Harry off when he would've done something ten times worse. "Harry," he tilted the boy's head up to catch his eyes – now an almost golden color, "have fun." He placed a kiss on the boy's messy mop.

Harry's face lit up, beaming at the man as he stood up to get Andi back into the house before she woke up. "I've gotta make some of that Sloppy Joe before she wakes up," he told the boy with a wink; golden eyes shifted back to his usual emeralds.

Harry giggled.

He turned, running as fast as he could to his fallen warrior, as his Uncle Padfoot walked back up to the house.

He poked the girls head. Pink hair turned to a dark Brown color. He poked it again. Brown to orange. Poke. Orange to green. Poke. Green to blue. Poke. Blue to purple. Poke. Purple to yellow.

Harry laughed again.

Tonks peeked up at the child.

Harry mimicked her hair colors with a grin.

Before he blinked in surprise at the malicious smile crossing the girl's young face. She smiled, quite evilly in Harry's opinion, and began to stand up. Harry glanced around for his Uncle Padfoot, or even Uncle Ted, and looked back to the evil little person in front of him. He knew that there had to be a reason that a lot of people said that girls were scary...

He stumbled backward, a small _eep_ escaping his throat, and he spun around on the spot.

He'd be damned if he let himself get caught.


	5. Chapter 5

**Another chapter (five!) finally up! Sorry it took so long! Enjoy! And I'll work on the next one.**

**And school is almost over, thank you for small miracles. **

**Read and Review.**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter

* * *

"Merlin," Sirius dabbed at the boy's knee with a bright, white (or it once was if it hadn't been smeared with blood) cotton ball, "both of you are _impossible_…"

"Am not…" the boy muttered mutinously, wincing at the stinging pain in his knee. He recoiled. "It _hurts_…" Harry moaned out as Sirius pulled his knee back to finish cleaning it.

"You'll be fine," Sirius told him, throwing the cotton ball away and closing the lid to the alcohol bottle. "See?" He asked, smiling at him as he allowed the boy to yank his leg back to himself, "all clean, now where are the bandages…?" Harry watched curiously as he put the bottle away, rummaging for bandages in the cupboard above the sink. "I know they're here somewhere…"

" 's that it?" Harry asked, pointing to the white cloth shoved between the sink and the wall.

Sirius kneeled down to pull it out. "Now how did that get there…" He frowned thoughtfully, brushing the dust off before casting a quick spell at it. The cloth sparkled. "There, all clean." Harry allowed him to take his leg back as he sat down once again.

"Aunt Andi up soon?" Harry asked him quietly after a moment of silence.

A large white bandage stretched around his knee, cutting painfully into his cut. He winced. "She should be up soon," Sirius answered, clipping it together.

He might have gone a little overboard with the scrape that Harry had gotten, but you could never be too careful.

Damn. Ted was never going to let him live this down.

"Come on," He hefted the child onto the floor, grasping his hand tightly in his own as he led him down the stairs. "The Sloppy Joe should be finished by now, don't you think?"

"A'nt Andi said not to eat an'thing that you made."

"Andi is just a mean, bitter, old hag." Sirius waved him off.

"Hag, huh?"

With a gulp, he turned around, staring at Andromeda with wide eyes. She stood in the doorway, watching both the boys (Harry still had his, now normal, orange hair) stare at her with wide eyes. Harry hid his face in his father's neck.

She suddenly felt a bit awkward.

Blood adoption always had a bit of an odd side-effect on the recipients. The Blacks should know, they had been on that side of the food-chain more often than not. And it was fairly obvious to see who was blood adopted and who wasn't – if you knew what you were looking for.

This was why she had listened to what Sirius had to say. If it wasn't for the small orange haired, purple eyed, red nosed child sitting in his arms (looking like an adorable little oompa-loompa), she would've turned him away and called the aurors. But the strange James Potter look alike stopped her dead, the begging look in Sirius' eyes made her think – did she really have to be that perfect law abiding citizen that everyone made her out to be?

So she gave them a chance. She allowed her daughter to come with her after a couple of visits and explanations.

Then she had to break the news to Ted.

He took it better than she expected.

But Harry was much more dependant than he had been before Sirius had gotten him (or so Sirius had confided in them), before he'd barely talked, didn't want to say a word, until that thunderstorm. He'd followed Sirius like a lost puppy that night, apparently not looking back, idolizing him as he made the sounds stop.

He'd quickly become attached to the convict.

And whether it was a result from Azkaban or the Blood Adoption, but Sirius became obsessively overprotective of his heir. Any little cut that he got had to be cleaned and bandaged right away – something that'd obviously happened only a few seconds ago.

She felt her self-righteous anger fade away – she would yell at Sirius later tonight, once Harry and Dora were out of the room.

They didn't need to learn any new words at the moment.

"How 'bout lunch then?" Andromeda asked with a quaint smile. Harry peeked up from his place at his father's shoulder. Orange hair turned an eerily similar shade of pink as another child who was seated downstairs (as she said, Blacks had to know all about blood adoptions, although considered dark, they've had enough blood adoptions in their family to know about the side-effects – and for enough color changing demons to actually be born into the families). "I'm feeling a bit peachy."

She had to stifle a grin as Sirius eyed her questioningly. His grey eyes were on high alert, scanning for any sign of a threat before he loosened his grip on Harry.

Speaking of which… "Siri' made Sl'ppy Joe!"

You had to love little kids; they made life so much easier… 12% of the time. The other 88% they were just Demons sent from hell to make peoples lives horrible – but they made up for it in cuteness.

"Oh?" She sent a demure smile to the nervously twitching man, "I'm sure that my Ted didn't know anything about this, did he?" Harry nodded his head in the positive – huh, apparently her Ted did know that Sirius had successfully made his Sloppy Joe (an American cuisine that he'd become obsessed with a few years back… before Azkaban).

This would be a fun day.

"Must go downstairs then," she gestured for the two boys to go before her, "Ladies first."

" 'm not a lady!"

Harry pouted cutely up at her, Sirius nodded quickly, glancing down the steps before glancing back at her. He probably didn't want to put his back to her for any length of time, but knew better than to argue against her – for now.

"Not you Hare-bear," she patted his cheek sympathetically, his creamy-green hair (which became green once he outrageously heard that "ladies" comment) morphed back to the original black hair. He looked eerily like James Potter with that hair. "Your lovely godfather over here though, is a lady," she took a deep breath, putting her mouth to the boy's ear as if to tell him a huge secret, "in disguise." It was loud enough that Sirius could still hear it.

Harry giggled.

"Might as well head down now, _right_, your majesty?"

Andromeda had to grin at the snarky reply. Sirius would be tip toeing around the edge all night, afraid at any backlash that Andi might release on him. And that was the best part. Sirius would think of everything himself, torturing himself all night, even after she left, thinking that she had pranked him, that she had cursed him…

And the best part was, that he would psychologically screw with himself.

She'd be pulling her husband in on this too, allowing him to keep glancing over his shoulder in fear of the bat-boogey hex being shot at him.

And both children would laugh at the men trying to escape whatever hell that she might feel like putting them through, "acting silly" as Harry would probably call it.

And Andromeda would just have to sit back, and watch the show.

Tonight was going to be fun. Maybe she should get some popcorn?


	6. Chapter 6

**Yes! I have finally posted another chapter! Say hello to Chapter Six people! Sorry for grouping you all together under "people" but I'm too lazy to name each and every one of you - although I love you all, and your reviews make me happy!**

**But I've just started school again (fun... note the sarcasm) and I'm still waiting for my textbooks to arrive in the mail... I probably should've just bought them at the bookstore...**

**But, on another note, I will try to update as often as I can between classes, and projects, and homework.**

**Please read and review (I'll give you an imaginary cookie). Thank you!**

* * *

"Do you 'ave to go?" Soft green eyes looked up at the thirteen year old pitifully. His lip trembled as the pink haired girl nodded.

"I've got school – third year!" Dora said, brightening up as her father beamed at her with pride. She grinned at her newly dubbed 'little brother' that she had met only a few months ago. "And I'll be back for Christmas. We'll trade presents and everything – I'll get you something from Hogsmeade!"

"Promise?"

Ted coaxed the sniffling child off of his daughter, "We'll still come by and visit – even more since the devil child won't be with us."

"We'll have lots of fun, yeah?" Harry glanced up at Sirius, his green emeralds morphed into a grey that was eerily similar to the color that Sirius saw in the mirror every morning – little Nymphadora Tonks had a strange idea of humor. "Just like we usually do – it'll be like a sabbatical."

The boy furrowed his brow. "What's a sa-saba-sa–?"

"Sabbatical." Sirius corrected, "Err… It's like a long holiday…"

"Can we go to the beach?" Harry asked brightly, his hair turned orange and he seemed to tan a bit, "Like last time?"

Andromeda sent her cousin a '_we-are-so-talking-about-this-when-the-children-are-no-longer-present'_ glare as he sheepishly tried to shush his godson. "It's a bit too cold for the beach," she settled on saying, a bit too sternly, but Sirius wouldn't dare say a thing while her glare was still settled on him.

"And you'll be going to Hogwarts in a few more years too!"

And suddenly all the adults shifted uneasily. "I'll be able to show you around everywhere!" While being thirteen, Dora knew plenty about the truth – but she still managed to forget certain pieces of '_what-can-happen-and-what-can't_'. They weren't sure if it'd be safe enough for Harry to go… "Right, Uncle Sirius?"

"We'll see," he said after a small silence, "but you've got to remember that you can't tell a word to anyone about Harry, nor I, okay? Just clam up and shut up, or don't say a word."

"It's important that you do that," Andi piped up, knowing exactly what Sirius meant by that. "Don't you say a _word_ – act as though everything is normal. You've haven't seen Sirius Black since you were six, and you've never met a Harry Potter in your life – not to mention you're 'little brother'." Her mother gave her patented glare to her daughter, as if daring her to scream from the rooftops their 'little secret'.

The small reprieve gave Sirius some relief.

But Dora merely nodded solemnly. "Aye, aye, captain."

Andromeda made sure to give her a hard stare before it melted into a soft, sad smile. "My baby's growing up!" She cried out, to Dora's utter horror.

"_Mum_!" She struggled to get away once the woman launched herself at the teen, "If you're acting like this _now_, how are you going to act at the _platform_! If you manage to embarrass me, I'll never talk to you again!"

"She embarrasses you every time darling." Ted told her fondly, sharing a grin with Sirius over her head. "We'll just have to get there before the crowd comes in."

"Or really late, so she won't have time," the girl managed to say, a questioning, hopeful, tilt to her voice. Her hair morphed into a (rather questioning) tone of green (according to Dora at least, Sirius didn't see how _any_ colour could be 'questioning') – it reminded Sirius rather of the Riddler from Batman though… he was half tempted to charm her baggy old tee-shirt (so large that he was sure it once was Ted's), emerald green with a large question mark.

Sirius clapped his hands together as Andi untangled herself from her daughter, "Alright then," he said (much more cheerfully than anyone had a right to be at eight in the morning), "everyone out."

"_Oh_! We're going to be late!" Andi said, overriding her daughter's indignant shout of _'hey!'_ "We've only got a couple more hours to get to the station and make sure that you get a good seat!"

"I don't need a good seat," Dora said quickly, stumbling as she backed up toward her father, "I can wait till last minute, I don't mind – we'll apparate for all I care!"

But Andromeda ignored her plea's and bargains, snatching her from her father's grasp and dragging her out the front door that Ted was now blocking. Sirius raised a brow. "Err…" The brown-haired man grinned weakly, "I'll just be going then – try not to blow up the house!" And with that, he ducked out of the house, narrowly dodging a hex shot at him, and racing down the pathway.

Harry backed up bewilderedly, glancing up at his godfather, catching the man's eye with his still eerily similar grey eyes that Dora had coaxed him into having.

A small smile spread across Sirius' face without permission, "C'mon then," he said, grasping the child's hand as he pulled him toward the kitchen, "let's have some breakfast while we're up."

The raven haired child nodded as he sniffled pitilessly, watching as the gaunt man raced from shelf to shelf, pulling down variously boxes and the like. "Is– is–" he broke off, and Sirius turned around, setting the box of cornflakes onto the counter, "is Dora gonna' come back?"

"Of course she is!" He told him, walking round the table to pull up a seat beside him, "She wouldn't even be able to stay away!"

"How do you know?" The boy's whisper was so quiet that he had to strain to hear it.

In response, Sirius pulled the boy towards him slightly, helping him to settle onto his lap as he wrapped his arms around him. "Because I wouldn't be able to either," he said finally, slowly, as if weighing each word. A funny sort of grin crossed his face. "I hope you won't mind that, if you do go to Hogwarts, you have to bring your lovable pet dog with you."

The boy giggled. "Ev'ryone would _love_ Padfoot," Harry told him with a grin.

"I know – I'm too lovable and adorable for my own good aren't I?" He asked and was rewarded with another laugh. But he only shook his head and plopped the boy back onto the ground, "Alright then – breakfast."

And, after a moment's regard, put the cornflakes back into the cupboard, "You know what, how 'bout some chocolate chip pancakes then, huh?"

Harry beamed.


	7. Chapter 7

**Two updates in two days... I feel like I achieved something.**

**And I have successfully continued with my story, and shall update... err - hopefully sometime next week. I think.**

**So, since I haven't wrote it at all in the last few chapter, I don't own Harry Potter. If I did, I'd be rich and have a faster computer, and an awesome car and most likely would've spent a few years in the Europe, or just traveling.**

* * *

"Where'd you get the wand anyway," Harry asked prodding the aforementioned wand lying hazardously on the table.

"Stole off some milkman while in London," he said, flipping the page of the Daily Prophet.

Harry nodded before furrowing his brow, "When'd you go ta' London?"

"When Ted volunteered to watch you for a few hours."

Frowning, Harry nodded thoughtfully before turning back to his Cocoa Puffs, chewing on the soaked cereal. He wrinkled his nose at the soggy feeling in his mouth.

Sirius grinned at the face once he glanced up from the paper. "Here," he said, whipping out a handkerchief, Harry spat it out, "we've got more in the cupboard," he said, allowing the boy to stand up and walk toward the cupboard before banishing the mush in his hand. He copied the boy's previous expression.

"Pad," he said finally, Sirius froze at the shortened version of his nickname, "I can't reach."

Forcing himself to turn around, he snickered at the boy attempting to get to the cereal. He hadn't turned around while addressing his godfather, realizing that his attempts at snatching the cereal was a better waste of his energy – so he opted for leaning against the counter, his socked feet sliding slightly as he reached up on the tip of his toes, his one hand vainly reaching for the mahogany cupboard only a few inches from his fingertips.

Sirius forced back another snicker.

Biting his lip, he walked over to the boy, placing a hand on his head to force him back down to his plain sock cover flat footed self, and retrieved the box of Cocoa Puffs before handing to the boy with an amused smile.

Harry yanked the box out of his hand and hurried back to his seat, letting Sirius take the bowl and dump it and take out the milk for him as Harry munched on the plain cereal straight from the box.

"You're welcome," Sirius muttered waspishly, swatting the boys head as he placed the bowl and milk before him.

Harry grinned apologetically.

With a roll of his eyes, he once again settled himself across from him and picked up his discarded Daily Prophet. Though, why he was reading it, he didn't know (why Ted insisted on giving it to him he didn't know). It merely mentioned a few things about Dumbledore, Fudge, idiots, more idiots, some muggle baiting, the usual, horoscopes (which were strangely interesting) – not to mention the articles about what happened to the Boy-Who-Lived, and where mass-murderer Sirius Black was now.

Those articles always managed to get him into a mood.

Until Harry manages to read them (for the most part) and will begin to laugh (he still hadn't got used to the idea that people seemed to know of him).

Today, apparently, he was spotted near Poland. Why he would want to go to Poland, he had no idea. He'd heard it was awfully dull there (at least, from his cousins, husbands, brothers, aunts, daughter who he'd dated several years ago – so he couldn't exactly say from experience).

But, why would he go to Poland when there was no place like home?

And, thinking back on that sentence, he remembered his old childhood home. Subconsciously frowning, he made a mental note to fix that saying later.

Maybe _'home is where the heart is'_?

… Damn. He was turning into a sentimental sap.

But, with a spare glance at Harry (who was currently tackling his Cocoa Puffs with a strange gusto), he figured it was worth it. Before he eyed the half empty box beside the boy that he'd just opened today, he added a maybe to the preview statement.

Ah well, can't have every thing.

"Pad," Harry said, repeated his shortened nickname with a strange conviction, only a moment later, twirling his spoon in the brownish colored milk without looking up.

Sirius placed his newspaper onto the table, leaning forward to catch the boy's eye unsuccessfully, "Yeah Hare?"

Harry looked up, "Will we get a letter from Dora soon?"

"Maybe," he said after a moment, resisting the urge to scoop the child away and hide him in Poland at the childlike expression, really, why was the kid so _cute_? "If we do, it'll probably be sent off to your Aunt Andi and Uncle Ted, and they'll give it to us."

"But we haven't seen them in _forever_!" It'd only been five days since Dora left, but he wasn't about to tell a whining six year old that. "And I wanna letter."

"They've got jobs they've gotta do," Sirius said soothingly, "They'll probably stop by this weekend if they're not busy."

"Could've stopped to say hello…" Harry muttered, sulking slightly as a pout grew on his face and his hair morphed into a soft blue. Sirius once again resisted the urge to prove the Daily Prophet right and hide Harry away in a small fortress in Poland.

"I'm sure they will," he said, leaning back in his chair, "just give them a bit of time."

"They're bored of us, aren't they!" Harry suddenly cried out, slipping off his chair, Sirius hurriedly crouched down under the table to be sure the boy didn't hurt himself any, his stolen wand fell to the floor. "We're boring Dad! We're boring people!"

Sirius paused at the unintentional use of the word Dad before moving on as if Harry hadn't said it – the boy hadn't even seemed to realize that he'd said it, but a strange warmth and guilt built up in his chest all the same.

He pushed the doubts out of his mind as he continued to inspect and prod the boy for any broken bones.

Harry swatted his hand away.

"No falling off chairs," he settled on saying, once he was satisfied that there was not injuries, and he moved to stand up – before his head collided with the table. "_Merlin_!" he moaned, rubbing his head. Harry snorted with laughter as he moved out of the way to allow his godfather passage from out of the underside of the table. Sirius shot him a dirty look.

"Watch me get a concussion." He told him primly, "then we'll see who's laughing."

That, of course, only drove the boy to laugh harder.


	8. Chapter 8

**Been a while since I've updated this story. A little Harry got sick, a bit. That's one reason why you shouldn't fall asleep in front of an open window during the winter. But, I've got to go to sleep early tonight (which is upsetting, seeing as I have to wake up early tomorrow and help my mom clean the house for Thanksgiving).**

**Personally, I'm of the opinion that it's only a few family members coming over anyway, and they've all seen our house at its worst, I don't know why we have to clean all _that_ much. Especially since their houses aren't that much better half the time. I swear, my mom acts as though no one has a dirty house when people come over and if they see even a speck of dirt in our house the world is going to end.**

**I mean really...**

**And have fun! I'm tired anyway, so I'm going to go crawl into bed soon.**

* * *

Sirius blinked tiredly before rolling onto his stomach.

It was much too cold out.

He yawned silently before burrowing his head back into his pillows, thankful that his blankets were still, somehow, covering him (even if they looked as thought they had been thrown on him hazardly, and looked as though they might fall off at any moment.

Sirius blinked again, why was it so _cold_ out? It should_ not_ be that cold out.

Then again, it was, he looked over at the clock, eight a.m. He let out a miniscule groan and attempted to bury himself deeper into his bed.

It was much too_ early._

But his feet were beginning to feel frozen and he felt horribly _cold_, so he sat up slowly, sluggishly patting the floor by his bed with his feet, wondering where the hell his slippers were and why it was _so cold_.

He finally pulled his slippers on (after 10 minutes of sluggishly looking for them) and stumbled out of bed, pulling a bathrobe on.

He was living in seclusion with his godson, he didn't rightly care how he looked anymore as long as he was _warm_. And he wasn't. It made him fairly upset.

Sirius managed to slowly make his way across his room, dodging missives that he'd sent flying while searching for something or other (his room always looked like a bomb went off, he'd always gotten in trouble because of that), leaned up against his door. Which promptly opened.

He fell to the ground with a loud yelp.

Glancing around suspiciously (if _anyone_ saw that, he'd never live it down), he stood up, brushing his clothes (bathrobe and boxers – too early to get changed) off, and walked across the hall to Harry's room.

A quick peak in the child's room proved that the child was already up and about. Not that Sirius was too worried, the kid made a habit to get up early in the morning and attempt to stay up as late as he could but always managed to fall asleep before nine.

Because of that, Sirius made a point not to make a bedtime, the child's brain made it's own. And it all worked out rather well.

But he yawned (once again), stumbled (like every morning), and worked his way down the stairs.

He blinked in surprise as he figured out why it was _so Merlin-damned cold in this stupid house_ (the house was old – one of the Black summer houses – but it wasn't _that_ old that it would get like this in the winter.

Sirius sighed at the sight though, Harry managed to get completely bundled up, and, by the looks of it, had been sleeping in front of the open window down here for a while. Sirius wouldn't be surprised if Harry had fallen asleep down here.

"Poo-Bear," Sirius muttered tiredly, still not quite awake despite the fact that Harry was sitting before a completely open window while it was _snowing_.

The kid was insane.

Sirius stumbled up to him, poking him pathetically in his side, "Hare," he muttered, getting slightly worried when Harry didn't wake up, "Harry, come on, you've got to up, it's time to wake, come on, wakey wakey eggs and bacey." Harry was usually an abnormally light sleeper.

He bit his lip, looking around, horrified. What the happened? How –

Sirius stumbled around Harry, pulling the window closed, the cold wind abruptly shut off from entering the house, and he turned back around and lifted Harry up, crossing the room and setting him down on the sofa. "Harry," he asked once again, "Harry, come on kid, you can wake, can't you, come on, Daddy's here, right here… come on Boo, wakey wakey, or I won't make bacey."

He brushed the kid's fringe away, suddenly wide awake before he touched the kid's forehead. The kid was down here long enough to get a fever it seemed like.

The dark haired man mentally groaned.

And, quickly standing up, he made his way off into the kitchen, intent on hunting down some hot cocoa… and finding his wand… he was pretty sure that he left his wand in the kitchen last night to do the clean up when –

He paused, blinked, and rushed into the kitchen before wincing.

Loud cutlery sounded throughout the room as different dishes and pots floated around, clean… and repeatedly getting rewashed.

Sirius knew that he'd forgotten something last night.

Then again, he was also sure that he saw Harry head off to bed last night too….

With a sigh, be dodged a few plates flying over his head, dancing around as water splashed in the sink, and he ducked a spatula soaring over his head. He really can't forget to stop the charms on the washing up anymore. If he kept this up, they were never going to have hot water again.

But, he grabbed the innocent looking wand off of the table and, a wave of a wand later, and the dishes stopped dancing around, and the water stopped running.

Sirius sent another spell at the cupboards, nodding approvingly as chocolate mix, a couple mugs, and a teapot were spat out of their respective places.

Might as well let the hot cocoa make itself while he attempted to find the missing first aid kit.

He swore that either Harry continuously hid the kit or the kit had a mind of its own and decided to hide itself. Every time.

Sirius glanced back into the living room to see Harry still sound asleep on the sofa, not having moved an inch, and worked his way back upstairs to the bathroom, skipping a few steps at a time as he walked up there, as quiet as he could be (which wasn't much, but at least he wasn't as loud as usual) so that he wouldn't wake Harry.

Although he doubted that Harry would be waking up any time soon.

And the kid definitely wouldn't be waking up without a headache. Or ear ache. Harry seemed to have an ear ache every other day it seemed like.

He was going to have to ask Andi to take the kid to a doctor to check that out.

But he snuck into the bathroom, leaving the door open behind him as he opened the mirror door to see – hello, surprise – no first aid kit.

He was going to have to make several if this kept up.

"C'mon, aidy," he muttered, annoyed, "got a sick kid downstairs, come on you stupid little–"

The loud thunk behind him distracted him as he turned back around, blinked – wondering whether or not he was still half asleep – to see the first aid kit lying on its side, seemingly as if he'd muttered the magic words and the thing threw itself out of the shelf in the shower.

How it got on the shelf in the shower, Sirius didn't know. And he didn't _want_ to know.

He was fairly positive that he was still somewhat asleep.

And, shrugging, he decided that it was too much to think about so early in the morning, and that he'd figure it out later. Later was always a procrastinator's best friend.

The dark haired man opened the little white box, holding it in his right hand as he rummaged through it, making his way back down the stairs towards the living room. "Ah ha!" Sirius said softly (or what he thought was soft, but was – more probably – loud seeing as he was still somewhat asleep, and he was sure that nothing was really processing in his brain at all). "Alright Hare," he shut the living room door behind him, blinked slightly as he realized he hadn't started the fire and groaned as he realized his wand was still in the kitchen.

"Give me five seconds," he said, holding up two fingers, putting the thermometer and first aid kit on the coffee table in front of the child. "Be right back."

He raced out the room, across the hall, and into the kitchen, grabbed the wand, and ran back into the living room.

With a wave of his wand, the fireplace lit up.

Damn, it was too early.

He pried the boy's mouth open and placed the thermometer underneath his tounge, before closing the child's mouth and holding it shut as he waiting for the soft '_ding'_ to announce that it's finished it's job.

Sirius chocked when he noticed how warm the boy was… he didn't seem all that warm.

Suddenly awake, he placed another hand onto the child's face and grimaced, seeing that the boy was shivering. He pulled the blankets off of the nearby sofa and drapped them over Harry, and rummaged through the first aid kit. Andi and Ted would be bringing Dora soon, they could help out later tonight once they came in.

For now though, Sirius was sure that he had some potions that could help with that fever some.

* * *

Harry woke up, his eyes felt heavy, and he felt numb, completely and utterly numb.

He forced his eyes open.

When'd he get on the couch…? He wondered blearily, shivering as he brought the blankets tighter around him. A fire was crackling merrily in the grate, and Harry blearily figured that his Daddy had been in the room… he must've gotten up early… Harry hadn't been downstairs all that long…

He blinked again, intent on falling back asleep before he felt a hand settle onto his back, rubbing it slightly. He was too tired to move, he didn't want to talk to his Daddy.

"Come on Boo," came the familiar, muffled voice, "you can't sleep now, it's already lunch time."

Harry made a disbelieving sound and attempted to burrow himself back into his blankets. He heard Sirius chuckle.

"Come on," the grunt was accompanied by his Dad pulling him up and settling him upright on the sofa. Harry blinked tiredly and looked up at him. He suddenly saw, surprised, that his Dad had moved in front of him, and had his hands on his forehead.

"Daddy?" he muttered questioningly, moving as though to lie back down.

His Dad made him sit back upright.

"Sit warm," he said, pulling out a muggle thermometer and handing to him. Harry blinked down at it stupidly. "Put that in your mouth for a couple minutes, I've got a couple of potions that you can drink. Then you can lie back down after soup, okay Boo?"

Harry shook his head. "M not 'ungry…" he muttered, blinking but dutifully putting the stick underneath his tongue. "A'd oim no' 'ungry – no ned po'ios."

He saw his Dad roll his eyes, "You're eating and you need potions," he said firmly.

Harry blinked again, before shaking his head. He was _fine_. Just tired. And cold.

The thing beeped in his mouth. His Dad took it out. Harry yawned. "Is Dora here yet?" he asked softly, rubbing at his eyes as he settled further back against the sofa. "I was' waitin' fer 'er… said she'd be 'ere at six…"

He saw his Dad frown at the thermometer before giving him a queer look, "Six at night Bud, and here," his Dad turned around, rummaging in something, before turning back to Harry with two potion bottles in his hands. He shook his head pathetically, but his Dad just held his head with one and, making sure that his mouth was still open, just a bit, and pouring each potion down his throat.

Harry gurgled, attempting to squirm away, but he tired…

A warm mug was shoved into his hands, and he blinked (his mental facilities seemed faulty at the moment, he couldn't keep up with what was happening… everything seemed so sluggish) at the hot chocolate that he found in his hands.

"Dora will be here in a few hours," his Daddy said, settling down next to him.

Harry leaned up against his Dad, sipping his cocoa slowly as he tried to keep his eyes open. The chocolate was warm…

A snore escaped his lips.


End file.
